


Take A Chance On Him

by ArielSakura



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Banter, Based on an ABBA Song, Established Sirius Black/Remus Lupin, F/M, Humor, M/M, Marauders, Marauders Era (Harry Potter), Marauders Friendship (Harry Potter), Remus Lupin is a Little Shit, Romantic Gestures, Sirius Black is a Good Friend, Sirius Black is a Little Shit, Song: Take a Chance on Me (ABBA), Songfic, Wooing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-01
Updated: 2020-07-01
Packaged: 2021-03-04 22:20:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,321
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25023823
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ArielSakura/pseuds/ArielSakura
Summary: James finally hits upon the perfect way to woo Lily, and thanks to his very best friends in the world, he pulls it off.
Relationships: James Potter/Lily Evans Potter, Sirius Black/Remus Lupin
Comments: 6
Kudos: 72





	Take A Chance On Him

**Author's Note:**

  * For [AmiMendal](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AmiMendal/gifts).



> For my friend on her birthday!!! Hope you like my response to your not-so-subtle prompt!!!   
> Thank-you KoraKunkel for helping me with the tags last minute! :D (unbeta'd so errors are all mine) 
> 
> Italics - James  
> Bold writing – Remus  
> Underline - Sirius

“Psst! Pads.”

“Yeah, mate?”

“What rhymes with Lily?”

“Silly?”

“Shhhh…! We’re in the middle of a test!”

“Remus, help!”

“No!”

“Can I rhyme Lily with Lily flower?”

“No, Mr Potter, you cannot,” came the frosty voice of Professor McGonagall.

“Thanks, Professor,” replied James, as he scrubbed out the last few lines of his latest ode to Lily.

“Now, if you don’t mind, refocus on your exam or face detention with me.”

“Yes, Professor.”

Professor McGonagall made her way back to the front of the class and James watched out the corner of his eye as she sat down and began marking a stack of papers in front of her.

“Silly?” he hissed at Sirius, “Really?”

“Better than willy,” Sirius grinned, “oh, my darling, precious Lily, would you suck my-“

Sirius yelped and jumped up in his seat.

“Mr Black!”

“Sorry, Professor!”

McGonagall fixed them all with a gimlet stare before returning to her work.

“What the hell, Moony?” Sirius hissed.

“Will you two be  _ quiet? _ We have a  _ test _ .”

“Yeah,” said Peter, “and I can’t copy off Moony if he keeps getting distracted by you two!”

James sighed and shuffled the poem beneath his transfiguration exam. He was halfway through answering question nine  _ ‘why is it important for animagus to be registered with the Ministry?’ _ when there was the sound of a quill snapping.

“Ah fucking  _ shit _ .” Remus exclaimed.

“Who said that?” Professor McGonagall said, standing up from her seat.

“James! Language!” scolded Remus.

“Detention, Mr Potter! 8 pm, my office.”

James turned in his seat to glare at one of best friends. Remus only smiled innocently back at him.

“Oh deer,” Sirius tisked beneath his breath. “Someone’s in  _ trouuuuble. _ ”

“Shut up, Pads,” James growled.

He returned to his test and was thankful when fifteen minutes later the bell signalled the end of class. Scribbling down his answer for the last question, ‘ _ why human transfiguration should never be undertaken without supervision’  _ he quickly made his way up to the front of the room.

“Hey, Evans. How’d you do on question ten?”

The most gorgeous angel on the face of this earth looked his way, “better than you I expect.”

James grasped his chest, “how your words wound me! Perhaps a kiss from such thorny lips will abate my bleeding heart?”

Lily scoffed, but he saw the glimmer of amusement in her eyes as she turned away, calling for her friend Alice to wait for her.

James placed his test on the pile and followed his friends out the door. 

Staring down the hall as he watched the love of his life walk away, red hair falling to her waist in a glorious riot of waves and curls. Skirt just high enough off the knee to make you wonder what was underneath but not so high as to be indecent… her laugh echoing off the walls like the most magical sound. 

"I am so in love with her," James sighed. 

"Really?" asked Sirius, "I can't believe it. Do you believe Remus?"

"Nope."

"Peter?"

"James in love with Evans? You can't be serious." 

"Oh but I am! Would never have guessed it, Prongsy old boy. Not in a million years." 

James glared at Sirius, "your sarcasm is not appreciated, Pads."

"But it is funny," replied Remus. 

"Which reminds me," James said, turning to shove Remus in the chest, “What the hell, Moony.”

“Serves you right, you shouldn’t have been talking during a test!”

James glared at him, “that’s such a dog act.”

“Oi!” Sirius said, “No need to bring my character into it.”

Remus sighed dramatically, “come on, let’s go get some food. I’m hungry and –“ he said immediately pointing at Sirius, “don’t you dare ask, ‘like a wolf?’”

“I wasn’t going to!”

“Uhuh,” said Peter as they set off down the hall. “I smell a rat.”

Sirius slung his arm around Peter’s shoulders, “that’s because you didn’t shower this morning, mate.”

“I didn’t have time!”

“You really should work on getting up with your alarm,” Remus said mildly.

Peter glared at him, “Well maybe I’d be more  _ rested _ if  _ someone  _ remembered to use a bloody  _ silencing charm _ when they were sucking their boyfriend off in the bed next to mine!”

Remus blushed bright red and was suddenly very interested in finding something in his bag.

“You could cast your own silencing charms you know,” James pointed out. 

Peter huffed and crossed his arms, “I haven’t gotten them figured out yet, they're patchy, and they always fail at the  _ worst  _ moment. Besides," he lifted his nose into the air petulantly, "it shouldn’t be up to the victim to protect themselves.” 

“There there, Wormtail,” Sirius said, chaffing Peter’s arm. “So what  _ exactly  _ were you upto, Moons? Blowing your boyfriend's cock? Or his mind? Both? How come I didn’t know about this? Who is he? Is he good looking?” Sirius asked.

Remus hummed in agreement as they split around a pack of first years, who were all huddled together as if to protect themselves, “he’s also, arrogant, has an ego the size of Hogwarts and is easily distracted.”

“I can't believe Boris is still going… hasn't Flitwick figured it out yet? Wait- what did you say?” Sirius said, his head snapping back around from where he had been staring at a suit of armour that appeared to be singing silent karaoke.

James laughed, “nothing Pads, you’re one of a kind you know that.”

Sirius’ chest puffed up and he pushed the doors to the Great Hall open with one hand. 

"I think Flitwick just silenced him to be done with it. Probably wait until the hols to sort him out." Remus said as Sirius disengaged from Peter only to grab Remus' hand and press a kiss to the back of it. 

“Say, Prongs. You ever thought about a serenade?”

“What?”

“You know, a song, a ditty, lyrics and a little bit of music to woo your would-be-lover.”

“I know what a serenade is, Pads.”

“Well, why don’t you do it for Evans? Could be the key to her frosty heart.”

“She’s not cold-hearted! You take that back!” James said, readying a bread roll to throw at Sirius.

Peter put his hand on James’ arm, “you’ve already got one detention and it’s Quidditch this weekend.”

“You’re lucky Wormy’s got a point, Pads.”

Sirius preened, “but me, I just happen to have a record of her favourite artist. We could learn one of the songs, provide the backing vocals, Pete’s fucking brilliant at that acapella shit. We could serenade her.”

James stared at his best friend wide-eyed, “Have I told you today how much I fucking love you, Padfoot?”

“Not enough, my heart has been in irrevocable despair since this morning when I loaned you my spare tie.”

“Oi, boyfriend.” Remus said, “Boyfriend sitting right here.”

Sirius beamed at Remus, “and what a pretty boyfriend you are,” he said, smacking a kiss against Remus’ cheek.

James watched Remus roll his eyes, but he also noted the small pleased smile he wore for the rest of lunch as they plotted ways to serenade Lily.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“Are you sure this is going to work?” James asked as they gathered outside the Great Hall. It was nearing eight o’clock, they were more than late for dinner, but there would still be food on tables after they had finished. 

“No,” Sirius replied, as he held a mirror aloft to check his hair.

“ _ WHAT?! _ We’ve just spent the last three hours practising and you don’t think it will work?”

“Mate, it’ll be fine. Come on. She’ll love it.”

“Remus,” James whined.

“I’m sure it will be fine.”

“Fine? FINE? It needs to be perfect! Maybe we should practise longer? Or I should…”

Peter clamped his hand over James’s mouth, “Oi! Quit worrying will you? Now we’re going to go in there, I’m gonna provide the music, Sirius and Remus are gonna back you up and  _ you’re _ going to win your lady’s heart! As icy as it is.”

“mpfhermlpfh!”

“Uh huh, now come on,” Peter said archly.

“Yeah, buck up, Prongs,” Sirius added.

It seemed to be the magic words as James immediately felt a calm wash over him. Straightening up, he ran his hands through his hair, messing it up and took a deep breath.

“Right, let’s do this.”

They all nodded at each other and walked into the Great Hall.

“Hey Evans!” James called as they drew closer to the Gryffindor table.

He watched as her beautiful, sweet face looked up from her conversation with Dorcas and Alice. Oh merlin, the red glint of her hair under the candlelight, the piercing green of her eyes. Would their children have her eyes? James hoped so.

Peter started making percussive sounds with his mouth and those verdant eyes when wide as James started to sing.

_ If you change your mind, I’ll be first in line. _ _   
_ _ Honey I’m still free, take a chance on me. _ _   
_ _ If you need me let me know, gonna be around. _ _   
_ _ If you’ve got no place to go, when you’re feeling down. _

Quickly, he cast a nonverbal  _ Avis  _ and pretty little robins flew out from his wand. He knew they were her favourite, he’d overheard her talking to Alice about them one day.

_ If you’re all alone, when the pretty birds have flown, _ _   
_ _ Honey I’m still free, take a chance on me. _ _   
_ _ Gonna do my very best, and it ain’t no lie. _ _   
_ _ If you put me to the test, if you let me try. _

Remus and Sirius began their backing vocals as the next part of the song began.

**Take a chance on him,** **  
** That’s all he’s asking of you honey,   
**Take a chance on him.**

James walked closer to her. Beginning to grin when she turned in her seat just a bit to look at him.

_ We can go dancing, we can go walking, _ _   
_ _ As long as we’re together, _ _   
_ _ Listen to some music, maybe just talking, _ _   
_ _ Get to know you better. _

He swallowed, this was the part of the song he’d had the most trouble with for whatever reason. He was nervous and sent a quick prayer to Merlin, Godric, hell even Salazar himself that this would work.

_ Cause you know I’ve got, so much that I wanna do. _ _   
_ _ When I dream I’m alone with you, it’s magic. _ _   
_ _ You want me to leave it there, afraid of a love affair _ _   
_ _ But I think you know, that I can’t let go _

_ If you change your mind, I’ll be first in line. _ _   
_ _ Honey I’m still free, take a chance on me. _ _   
_ _ If you need me let me know, gonna be around. _ _   
_ _ If you’ve got no place to go, when you’re feeling down. _

With a flick of his wand, the birds he had conjured earlier began to fly around in a giant swirl around them.

_ If you’re all alone, when the pretty birds have flown, _ _   
_ _ Honey I’m still free, take a chance on me. _ _   
_ _ Gonna do my very best, and it ain’t no lie. _ _   
_ _ If you put me to the test, if you let me try. _

**Take a chance on him,** **  
** Come on, give him a break, will you?   
**Take a chance on him.**

_ Oh, you can take your time, I’m in no hurry. _ _   
_ _ Hope I’m gonna get you, cause you don’t wanna hurt me. _ _   
_ _ Baby, don’t worry. I ain’t gonna let you. _ _   
_ _ Let me tell you know, my love is strong enough _ _   
_ _ to last when things get rough, it’s magic _

_ you say that I waste my time, but I can’t get you off my mind, _ _   
_ _ No I can’t let go, cause I love you so. _ _   
_ _ If you change your mind, I’ll be the first in line. _ _   
_ _ Honey, I’m still free, take a chance on me _ _   
_ _ If you need me let me know, gonna be around, _ _   
_ _ If you’ve got no place to go, when you’re feeling down. _

Another flick of his wand and the birds came down to settle on his arm. Hopping in place as he held it in an awkward cradling position in front of him.

_ If you’re all alone, when the pretty birds have flown, _ _   
_ _ Honey I’m still free, take a chance on me. _ _   
_ _ Gonna do my very best, and it ain’t no lie. _ _   
_ _ If you put me to the test, if you let me try. _

**Ba-ba-ba, ba, ba** **  
** **Ba-ba-ba, ba, ba** **  
** _ Honey, I’m still free, take a chance on me _ _   
_ _ Gonna do my very best, baby can’t you see. _ _   
_ _ Gotta put me to the test, Take a chance on me, _ _   
_ **Take a chance, take a chance, take a chance on him.**

**Ba-ba-ba, ba, ba** **  
** **Ba-ba-ba, ba, ba, ba-ba,** **  
** _ Honey, I’m still free, take a chance on me _ _   
_ _ Gonna do my very best, baby can’t you see. _ _   
_ __ Gotta put me to the test, Take a chance on me,

He swirled his wand last time, transfiguring the birds into a bundle of deep-pink and white carnations. Her favourite. He knelt down in front of her. Peter’s amazing acapella fading into nothing and the whole hall seemed to be holding its collective breath as he asked.

“Take a chance on me?”

Lily was already all the way turned around in her seat. Facing him completely. The moment stretched as she looked into his eyes and he could feel himself drowning in their depths. Felt himself judged and weighed and then finally…

“Alright, Potter. You’ve got your chance.”

Whooping with delight, James stood up and pulled her to her feet, pressing the flowers into her arms, he spun her around. Until she came to a stop inside his arms. He looked down into her eyes searching for permission and she leant up and pressed a kiss to the side of his mouth. His eyes closed at the sensation. Her lips were the softest thing and he felt as though he would float away on cloud nine.

Not even McGonagall coming to collect him for Remus’ detention could deter the hazy happy daze he found himself in.

She’d said yes.

Lily had said yes.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you all enjoyed!! :D 
> 
> Love Ariel


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